


The Crackling of a Fire

by Foxberry



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bickering, Campfires, Camping, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friendship, Gen, Teamwork, Trouble Sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9332744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxberry/pseuds/Foxberry
Summary: Unable to sleep, Hunk wakes up in the middle of the night and finds that he's not the only one that's having trouble sleeping. It seems there's plenty of things they do as a team.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to the Voltron countdown for January 15th! Only a few more days to go until Season 2!
> 
> I personally love the idea of them just doing completely mundane things together.

The crackling of the campfire greeted Hunk when he woke up groggy in the middle of the night. His eyes tried to blink out the sleep, but his efforts fell short and he stared up at the star-speckled sky.

His quiet moment of contemplation was soon interrupted by the movement of a shadow in the corner of his eye. His head snapped in its direction and found Shiro, sitting cross-legged and pensive, staring into the fire.

“Can’t sleep?” Hunk asked, rolling onto his side. His sleeping bag rustled as he moved, keeping the chill of the forest air at bay.

Shiro looked up with eyebrows raised and laughed. “Apparently you can’t either.” His hands patted over his knees, sleeping bag lying discarded beneath him. Shiro either didn't feel the cold or he was ignoring it.

A small cough sounded out from somewhere else in the darkness. “Well, I can’t sleep either and I don’t see me complaining about it.” Pidge sat up straight in her sleeping bag. Hair a mess and up at all angles, she appeared as if she hadn't slept at all. The lopsided angle of her glasses didn't hide the dark circles beneath them.

“You’re complaining about it now!” called out another voice, drawing Hunk’s attention directly to Lance’s unimpressed face. He yawned and gestured at Pidge with both his hands, too sleepy to truly show his frustration.

Pidge fixed her glasses and frowned. “I’m complaining _about_ them and _their'_  'not sleeping'.” She crossed her arms, appearing all the more determined to win an argument in the middle of the night, even if her hair was all over the place.

A growl from another sleeping bag answered and Keith’s head popped up into view a second later. His hair was also a mess, tangled to one side. “No one can sleep when you won't let people sleep.” His voice was gravely with lost sleep.

Lance turned a tired glare in Keith’s direction and retorted with a yawn, “No one asked _you_ , Keith.” His face formed into a snarl as he yawned again. He too seemed intent on winning in his self-deprived state.

“Maybe _some_ people might be able to sleep if you didn’t snore, _Lance_.” Keith’s hand threw themselves up into the air as if he had lost a battle they’d barely started. His eyes were daggers, staring Lance down before his eyes considered Pidge.

Hunk took a deep breath, surveying the way his friends sat and talked and breathed grumpily. This would only go badly if he said nothing. “Guys, does this _really_ need to happen right now?” He found himself yawning too, unable to stop himself, and rubbed at his left eye.

Shiro cleared his throat and leaned forward to rest his hands on his knees. “Let’s just all agree to go to sleep. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.” His voice cut through the bickering and the stares, silencing them so only the sound of the fire could be heard.

“Mmm fine,” Pidge reluctantly agreed, reaching up for her glasses and slipping them off. She shuffled into her sleeping back and tucked her glasses away. She gave one final glare at the others and rolled over after one final sleepy smile at Shiro.

Shiro’s gaze turned to Lance, expectation showing in the raising of his eyebrows and the thin line of his lips. Lance pulled his own face in return and rambled back, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m sleeping, I’m sleeping.” In a shuffle of fabric, he disappeared into his sleeping bag again.

Keith moved into his sleeping bag and pulled it up to his chin. He stared up at the sky and sighed before adding a curt “Night.” He moved to face away from the fire with an abrupt roll.

“Hunk, you too,” Shiro finally addressed Hunk with a worried smile. His voice was softer, the strength of it having disappeared into the night like the embers of the fire.

Hunk sighed and stared right back, resisting his restlessness and Shiro’s command at once. “Only if you’re going to _actually_ sleep this time. You’re going to need it.” If he was going to go to sleep, or at least try, then they all had to.

“Can’t argue with that,” Shiro reluctantly agreed with a sigh. He moved slowly back into his sleeping bag, shifting his weight like a man with a lot on his shoulders. Hunk didn’t close his eyes until he was content that Shiro was at least trying to go to sleep like the rest of them.

Hunk gave one last look up at the night sky before he muttered a breathy “Night.” His words were echoed by a chorus of ‘good night’s that rose up into the air immediately after. The sound itself was comforting, letting him know for certain that he was not alone, that his team were right there beside him, behind him, with him.

Hunk let his eyes close and wondered how long they’ll manage to sleep this time. With any luck, the next time he would see any of them would be after sunrise. He didn't expect to get much sleep tonight at all.

While the others tossed and turned and sighed and snored, the crackling of the fire went long into the night, and, thankfully, Hunk drifted off long before the fire went out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! All comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr (@foxberryblue)](https://foxberryblue.tumblr.com/) and Twitter ([@foxberryblue](http://twitter.com/foxberryblue) or [@particlebarrier](http://twitter.com/particlebarrier)) or on my writing only blog [Foxberry Writes](http://foxberrywrites.tumblr.com/).


End file.
